Yami Paradox Duel 3 - Fight Shadow with Shadow
by ambrose.thorn
Summary: Wick Eaves, brother of Jolon Archimedes, travels through time and space to find Marik Ishtar and elimininate him from the Yami Complex, therefore resolving another part of the Yami Paradox. The duel will not be easily won, however... Wick Eaves and Jolon Archimedes belong to me. Marik and cards belong to Konami.
1. Chapter 1

Duel 3: Soul-Snatchers Contest

"Duel!"

Wick 4000

Marik 4000

"I'll start!" Wick said, drawing a card out of his Chaos duel disk. "I activate the Field Spell, Savage Colosseum!"

A battered coliseum carved of white marble rose out of the floor with a great rumbling and shaking. Rubble rained down as Marik looked on in interest. "I see," he growled, then laughed. "Not that anything it does will stop me!"

"Perhaps not," Wick said, his gold teeth glinting. "But it will certainly get you going!"

"What?" Marik said warily, no longer laughing.

"You see, Savage Colosseum has a very interesting effect on the game. Now, just like the gladiators that once fought on its ground, we have no choice but to battle each other. If a monster is in Attack Mode, it must attack if able! We also each gain 300 Life Points each time one of our monsters attacks. And if a monster is in Attack Mode but couldn't attack, it's destroyed at the end of its controller's turn."

"Oh, one last thing," Wick said, grinning evilly. "Savage Colosseum is what's known as a Binding Card. It also has an effect that affects the players themselves. If either of us has no cards on the field, other than Field Spell cards, we can choose to Special Summon ourselves to the field as Normal Monsters that have ATK and DEF equal to our Life Points at the time. And I think you can imagine-" Wick laughed- "what happens when you get destroyed. Let me clear it up for you. You lose... the game and your soul!"

"Now I'll place a card facedown," Wick continued, "and summon Spirit Reaper in Defense Mode!" A holographic reaper with a long purple cloak and leathery skin appeared, wielding an enormous scythe. "That ends my turn."

Turn 1

Wick 4000

Spirit Reaper, 200 DEF

Field: Savage Colosseum

1 facedown

"Impressive!" Marik cackled, his eyes widening. "It looks like this might be more of a challenge than I expected! It will be interesting to see you fed to the shadows!"

"Just go already," Wick said, looking bored.

"Very well! I'll place a card facedown as well. Then I'll bring out Granadora, in Attack Mode!" The hologram of a hideous beast with as many eyes as it had mouths appeared before Marik. It screeched at Wick.

"When Granadora is summoned, I gain 1000 Life Points!" Marik crowed gleefully, watching as his counter raised.

Marik 5000

"Because of your Colosseum, I'll have to attack your Spirit Reaper. Say goodbye!"

"Not quite," Wick replied calmly. "Reaper, Counterattack!"

The zombie leapt up and intercepted Granadora's attack, blocking the slash with its scythe.

"What's this?" Marik said, his eye twitching. "Your Spirit Reaper should be in the Graveyard. Why is it still on the field?"

"It seems I forgot to mention Spirit Reaper's special ability," Wick said, his eyes flashing. "It can't be destroyed in battle with another monster."

"EH?!" Marik roared.

"Yes, and it's pointless trying to get rid of it, so why don't we move on so I can go?"

"Rrr," Marik said, grinding his teeth. "Very well, I end my turn."

Turn 2

Marik 5300

Granadora, 1900 ATK

1 facedown

"My move," Wick said, taking a card from his duel disk. "I summon Zolga, in Attack Mode!" A projection of a fairy with a metal headdress and billowing cloak appeared on the field. It had a glowing red eye set into the forehead of its helmet. "Zolga is one of the two Monster Binding Cards. Due to his effect, he is unaffected by the effects of Binding Cards other than himself. And now I'll play a third Binding Card. Go, Final Countdown!"

Wick held up the card, and something shot out of it into the sky above the coliseum, exploding into a circle of twenty burning stars. The dark sky swirled in the middle of the circle, forming a funnel. "I bet you're wondering what this does," Wick said casually, indicating the circle.

"Not particularly," Marik sneered, trying to look disinterested.

"Right," Wick said sarcastically. "Well, regardless, allow me to shed some light on the situation."

The stars flared brighter as one suddenly flickered out and was sucked into the swirling funnel. The cloud formation took on the shape of a face, with empty eyes and a dark, all-consuming mouth that was split wide in a leer to rival Marik's.

"You see," Wick continued, smirking at the slightly bemused expression on Marik's face, "as you might've guessed, this card counts down the turns until the end of the duel. For each turn, this card gains one counter, and one of those stars is consumed." Wick pointed to the sky. "After all twenty stars have gone... I win. And what's more, I get to keep you as a prize!"

Wick laughed. "This was turn one. Your next turn will be turn two, and so on. And what's more, the Final Countdown is a Field Spell, but it can be activated in the Spell &amp; Trap Zones, so I can still use the effect of my Savage Colosseum!"

"That's the end of my turn," Wick said, his gold teeth glinting at Marik. "Your move."

Turn 3

Wick 4000

Zolga, 1700 ATK

Spirit Reaper, 200 DEF

Field: Savage Colosseum

Field: Final Countdown (1 counter)

1 facedown

"I draw!" Marik ripped a card out of his duel disk, looked at it, and laughed. "This will put an end to your weak strategy. First, I'll Tribute my Granadora for the mighty Helpoemer!" Granadora disappeared in a flash of light, to be suddenly replaced by a fiend on a throne of runes, with no visible eyes and faces all over its body. "And then I'll take out your foolish Final Countdown with Mystical Space Typhoon!"

A whirling tornado emerged from the card and made its way across the field, slowing as it reached its destination. But instead of annihilating the Final Countdown, the typhoon stopped and faded away altogether.

"No!" Marik shouted. "What now?"

"Another property of Binding Cards," Wick said, smiling at Marik just to incense him, "is that they can only be destroyed by cards such as Heavy Storm that destroy multiple cards at once. You won't get anywhere with cards like that. Which reminds me, there's another counter on the Final Countdown."

Field: Final Countdown (2 counters)

"I can still attack your Zolga with my Helpoemer!" Marik yelled, his eyes wild. "I attack!" Helpoemer moved forward to where Zolga stood and struck it, but nothing happened.

Marik screamed and tore at his hair. "NOT AGAIN!"

"Remember, Zolga is a Binding Card too," Wick told a very distressed Marik. "Though I still take battle damage, Zolga stays put."

Wick 3700

Marik 5600

"Don't feel too bad," Wick grinned at Marik. "You still have more Life Points than me. For now."

Turn 4

Marik 5600

Helpoemer, 2000 ATK

1 facedown

"Here we go!" Wick said, grinning mischievously as he drew a card. "First of all, there's another counter on the Final Countdown."

Field: Final Countdown (3 counters)

"And now," Wick boomed in a triumphant voice, "my master plan unfolds. I summon Mystic Tomato to the field!"

There was an awkward silence. Then Marik burst out in cruel laughter. "And what," he sneered, as the jack-o-lantern-faced tomato bounced onto the field, "is this supposed to do against me?"

"It's not supposed to do anything but attack," Wick replied steadily, and the tomato did just that. Bouncing up to Helpoemer, it smashed itself against the other monster and burst like a bad fruit (which it was, of course).

Wick 3400

"A shame," sighed Wick, staring at the rapidly fading mess of holographic tomato. "That was one of my favorite monsters." He turned back to the angry and bewildered Marik. "When Mystic Tomato is sent to the card Graveyard as a result of battle, it lets me summon another monster straight from my Deck! It must have 1500 or less ATK to be summoned, but the monster I have in mind is quite within that range."


	2. Chapter 2

"Prepare yourself," Wick declared, spreading his arms wide, "and witness the wickedness that is Yubel!"

A dark vortex formed in the center of the field, growing and spinning more rapidly all the time. When it finally faded, a strange being stood in its place. The being had the build of a male human, but it also had huge, leathery wings and claws, not to mention a haphazard pattern of stripes across its chest and limbs. Its hair was a giant frizz almost reminiscent of Marik's, and was divided into two separately colored halves. Its eyes were also different colors. On its forehead was a diamond with a circle in the center, and in the middle of that circle, a dot. Almost like another eye.

Yubel folded its arms and leered at Marik.

"Behold, my pride and joy!" Wick cried. "One of the most dangerous Duel Monsters cards ever made. And there's only three of him! Only three! And guess who owns them?"

Marik's scowl showed that he knew perfectly well who owned the other two.

"Yes! And now it's about time that I ended my turn, don't you think? How else will you be able to experience the horror of Yubel? Oh, that reminds me, to keep my buddy here on the field I have to Tribute 1 monster at the end of each of my turns. So goodbye Zolga, hello victory!"

Zolga disappeared from the field, leaving Spirit Reaper kneeling next to the combination kid and demon.

Turn 5

Wick 3400

Yubel, 0 ATK

Spirit Reaper, 200 DEF

Field: Savage Colosseum

Field: Final Countdown (3 counters)

1 facedown

"I won't be stopped by such things!" Marik snarled, glaring at Yubel. "Modern cards cannot triumph against the ancient powers that hide in my Deck." He giggled crazily. "The god cards are powerful, yes, but I discovered another equally powerful force while in the Shadowrealm. When finally I returned to the weak Marik's body as the true Marik, I sought out these powerful cards. Though two of the cards were stolen back from me, I have within my Deck a force to rival the gods." Marik held up a card. "I play Drillago, also in Defense Mode!"

A machine, made up entirely of metal beams connected to drills, faded onto the field next to Marik. "Then I place a facedown on the field," Marik continued, "and activate Ultimate Offering!" The card rose up and glowed around its outline to show it was active.

"This card allows me to Normal Summon or Set one extra monster, at the cost of a mere 500 Life Points!" Marik cackled. "I can use this effect during either my turn or yours. So I'll now pay 500 Life Points to Set a monster in face-down Defense Mode!" A facedown card appeared on the field next to Drillago.

"Now, due to the effect of that annoying Colosseum of yours, I still have to attack," Marik observed. "And there's one way to find out what Yubel does. Helpoemer, attack Yubel!"

"A good try," Wick told Marik. "But not good enough. Allow me to show you what Yubel can do!"

As Helpoemer reached Yubel, it reached out to attack, but Yubel sidestepped and grabbed Helpoemer's dead wrists. Swinging around on the spot, Yubel flung a smirk and Helpoemer directly at Marik. He yelled as his monster crashed into him, knocking him to the ground.

"Would you like me to explain what Yubel's effect is?" Wick asked Marik nonchalantly.

"Do go on," snarled Marik, picking himself up and dusting off his cape.

"Well, Yubel doesn't like being attacked. So he gives attackers a little of what's coming to them by throwing attacking monsters back at their owners. But Yubel is also very generous," Wick added, his gold teeth glinting as he grinned at Marik, who was standing still as a statue. "He also gives back what his opponents were hoping to give him- the attack!" Wick laughed as Marik, horrified, watched his Life Points drop by 2000.

Marik 3100

"Oh, and don't forget about the Final Countdown," Wick reminded him.

Field: Final Countdown (4 counters)

"Yes, well, anyway..." Marik's grumbling trailed off into dark mutters.

Turn 6

Marik 3100

Helpoemer, 2000 ATK

Drillago, 1100 DEF

1 Set monster

1 facedown

"My turn. I draw!" Wick looked at his card. "Perfect! Just what I needed!" he beamed, clutching the card. "I summon The Calculator!" A robot with a calculator screen for a face moved onto the field. "But that doesn't mean much, since I'm about to nuke it anyway!"

"Huh?" Marik said, annoyed. "What do you mean by that?"

"I activate my facedown card, Torrential Tribute! I can only use it when a monster is summoned to the field, so I needed to sacrifice my Calculator in order to destroy every monster on the field!"

Suddenly the field exploded in a blue burst of fire, all the monsters shattering and the pieces blowing away into nothing. Marik put up his arm to shield his eyes against the flying dust and ashes. When the smoke had cleared somewhat, Marik looked up and laughed at what he could see of Wick. "You may have destroyed my monsters, but you wiped your field as well, genius! And that means that stupid Yubel, too." Marik held up a card. "And as a plus for me, you destroyed my facedown, Sangan. When it's sent to the Graveyard, I get to put a monster with 1500 or less ATK into my hand! And I think I'll add my newest powerhouse. The almighty Wicked god, The Wicked Avatar!"

There was silence from across the field. Then...

Hee hee hee.

Heh haha.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahaa!... ah...

"What's this?" Marik was furious. He hated it when people laughed at his master strategy. "Silence! Fear your demise!"

"You really bust me up, you know that?" Wick said, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes and infuriating Marik even more. "You really thought I would use a card like that without good reason?"

"With all the fool novices around today, I have trouble telling strategy from stupidity sometimes," Marik grumbled.

"Well... actually, I agree with that completely. But you should know by now that I am no novice."

"True enough," Marik shrugged.

"Yes," Wick said, slightly annoyed, but then became once again serious. "I used Torrential Tribute because it would both rid you of your field of monsters, and... wait for it-" Wick paused- "allow me to summon the next version of Yubel!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Marik muttered.

"Indeed! If Yubel is destroyed (by card effects, since he can't be destroyed in battle), I get to Special Summon his reincarnation from my hand, Deck or Graveyard. So say hello to Yubel - Terror Incarnate!"

While the rest of the monsters were being destroyed, Yubel had once again become encased in his cocoon of darkness. As they watched, it blew away like dark smoke to reveal a huge monster that had nothing but color scheme in common with the first Yubel. It unfurled two long necks and roared from two bearded dragon heads. In the center of its chest, where the necks met, was a huge sideways eye that bore a strong similarity to the diamond that had been on the first Yubel's forehead.

"Behold, terror itself stands before you!" Wick declared. "Be careful you don't have a heart attack."

Marik was about to respond with something very offensive, but an icy feeling was running down his spine, making his hair stand up even more. He felt cornered. Trapped. He knew that no matter what he did, Wick and Yubel would finish him. Cold sweat ran down his neck. He would be stuck in the Shadowrealm again, and for good, with only the weak Marik for company.

Marik started hyperventilating... and then he realized that he didn't panic, irrational fear was for those below him, and the whole thing had been because of that stupid Yubel. Fear drained out of Marik, to be replaced by anger. Immediately, the illusion of being trapped disappeared.

Wick grinned at the panting Marik across the field. "Did you like that?" Marik glared at him, but didn't reply.

"Then you'll love his next effect!" Wick raised his arm. "I end for now. Wait until next time!"

Turn 7

Wick 3400

Yubel - Terror Incarnate, 0 ATK

Field: Savage Colosseum

Field: Final Countdown (5 counters)

No facedowns


End file.
